The New Student's Reference Work/Vulgate, The

Vul'gate, The, is a Latin translation of the Bible which originated in the second century, probably in the Roman province of Syria. The Vulgate appears to have originated out of a number of different Latin translations which were intended rather for private use than for publication. This being the case, there soon were many Latin versions, which often contained dangerous interpolations as well as corruptions. Accordingly the task of a revision of these versions in the light of the original Greek was entrusted by Damasus, Bishop of Rome, to St. Jerome. The Vulgate of St. Jerome appeared about 384 A. D. Owing to the multiplication of manuscript copies, this text also became very corrupt. Alcuin in 801 and Lanfranc about 1070 undertook revision of it. The best extant manuscript of Jerome's Vulgate is the Codex Amiatinus at Florence, which dates perhaps as early as the seventh century. The Vulgate was revised by the authority of the papacy in 1590 and again in 1592. The edition of 1592, known as the Clementine Vulgate for Pope Clement VIII, is the standard Bible in the Roman Catholic church. The most recent critical edition of the Vulgate is that of Wordsworth and White. The Latin of the Vulgate is excellent, and bears the mark of close collation with the Greek version. The language, however, although idiomatic, is not always classical, but occasionally includes later ecclesiastical words and phrases. In some instances it is probable that the Latin version is earlier than the extant Greek. The Vulgate powerfully, though indirectly, influenced the Authorized Version in English, through Wiclif's translation, which was directly from the Vulgate, and through the Douai New Testament.